A Note About Northwest and Alaskan Yachts Pricing

Posted August 15, 2018 | by Phil Friedman

Up Front, No Games

You’ll notice that the new-build information we present on our website includes typical pricing for the models we have in production and projected pricing for those we have in the later stages of development.

The reason we don’t hide our pricing is that it is not driven by a quest to get the most we can in any given deal, but rather to deliver the maximum value we can for the price you pay.

The pricing you see posted for any given model is expressed as a typical range — from a yacht with a basic, but nevertheless fully-found, sail-away package to one with all the optional upgrades and add-ons needed to fully satisfy the personal tastes and requirements of 98% of the yachtsmen and yachtswomen in our market.

Could you contrive to spend a bit less by eliminating some features or substituting equipment choices? Maybe — although we’d be hesitant to advise you to do so. Could you manage to spend more by adding ultra-expensive interior finishing touches or all manner of exotic entertainment and navigation electronics? Sure, you could. But the exceptional cases won’t give you a reliable idea of what one of our yachts will cost. Which is precisely why we openly list a range of typical pricing.

Value Engineering

In designing and specifying our new-builds, we run each new model through Value Engineering Analysis (VEA) — a process of evaluation and reiteration that seeks to maximize the utility and value delivered per dollar expended.

Value engineering our yachts, however, does not mean cheapening them down to a pre-determined “price point” that is likely to be the most competitive on the market. Rather, it’s the process of seeking to give you the most we can for your money. And part of accomplishing that involves identifying what you personally want to get out of and what you require in a yacht.

Perhaps, one of the most readily understandable examples of value engineering has to do with a yacht’s designed speed. The resistance faced by a yacht moving through and over the water rises in a geometric, not linear curve as the yacht’s speed increases. Thus, if it takes, say, 300 HP to drive the yacht at 10 knots, it takes much more than 450 HP to drive her at 15 knots, more likely at least 675 HP. And just as likely more than 1,200 HP to drive her at 20 knots.

Therefore, if you’re going to be perfectly content to travel at a maximum 10 knots 98% of the time, you might ask yourself whether the additional initial and ongoing costs of having 1,200 HP engines (and their associated drivetrain parts) is worth the rare time or two you might be moved to crank your yacht’s speed up to 20 knots.

If you decide that being able to operate at the higher speeds is worth the extra expense, that is entirely your choice to make. And we’re more than happy to accommodate your preference.

But if you decide the extra cost isn’t worth the very small percentage of time you’ll actually take advantage of the potential for higher speed, and so elect not to spend the extra money, that’s value engineering. And we’re right there to maximize value received for dollars spent.

More times than you might think, you can get 90% or more of what you ideally might want at 60% or less of what you’d have to pay in order to get 100% of everything you might conceivably might like. Value engineering focuses in on and takes advantage of that fact.

What You Want Is What You Get

At Seattle Yachts, we know that, ultimately, you want what you want. If you want the potential to run at 18 to 20 knots, we’re more than happy to accommodate you — because we can and because we believe it’s entirely your decision to make.

Consequently, our Value Engineering Program is targeted strictly at providing you with information and alternatives that will enable you to make informed choices.

Call or email us to talk more about which new yacht model and which outfitting package will combine to best meet all your needs, in all respects, capabilities, features, and pricing. Seattle Yachts can help you design and build both Northwest Yachts and Alaskan Yachts.